WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.14/Rev.1 
4 July 2012 
 (12-3567) 
Committee in Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
APPLICANTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
Revision 
  1. An application for observer status in the SPS Committee was received on 13 September 2011 
from the African Union (AU).  Information from the official website of the AU is summarized below. 
1. Membership (54) 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights or obligations under the WTO. Algeria 
Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi 
Cameroon 
Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros 
Congo, Rep. of  
Cote d'Ivoire Dem. Rep. of Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea 
Eritrea 
Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana 
Guinea  
Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho  Liberia Libya 
Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius 
Mozambique 
Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda 
Republic Arab Saharawi 
Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia 
South Africa 
South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania 
Togo 
Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
 
 G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.14/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
  2. Mandate, scope and area of work 
2. The AU was established under the Constitutive Act of  the African Union, adopted in 2000 at 
the Lomé Summit in Togo.  It entered into force in 2001.  The African Union sees its role as seeking 
primarily to improve the quality of life of the con tinent's citizens through in tegration, cooperation and 
development.  It strives to promote unity, solid arity, cohesion and cooperation among the peoples and 
states of Africa, while developing new and stronger  strategic partnerships worldwide for Africa's 
sustainable development.  To this end, the AU Commission works in close collaboration with and 
through the member states, as we ll as with the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on the basis 
of subsidiarity and in complementarity with other AU organs.  According to the AU Commission, it will put in place appropriate mechan isms "to ensure efficient and effective engagement of the civil 
society, the Diaspora and the private sector in the process."  The objectives of AU include, inter alia : 
 To accelerate the political and socio-economic inte gration of the continent and to promote and 
defend African common positions on issues of inte rest to the continent and its peoples;  
 To encourage international cooperation, taki ng due account of the Charter of the United 
Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; 
 To establish the necessary conditions which enable th e continent to play its rightful role in the 
global economy and in in ternational negotiations; 
 To promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the 
integration of African economies; 
 To promote cooperation in all fields of human ac tivity to raise the living standards of African 
peoples;  
 To coordinate and harmonize the policies betw een the existing and future Regional Economic 
Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union; 
 To advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular 
in science and technology; 
 And to work with relevant international partne rs in the eradication of preventable diseases and 
the promotion of good health on the continent.  
The ultimate objective of AU is to enable all memb er states to adopt coordinated positions on matters 
of common concern to the continent in interna tional fora and defend the interests of Africa 
effectively. 
3. The AU has observer status in Codex, IPPC, OIE and an ad hoc observer status on a meeting-
by-meeting basis in the Committee on Trade and Development at the WTO. 
4. According to the AU Commission, having obser ver status in the WTO SPS Committee would 
enable it to provide effective support and guidance to the participating AU member states and the 
African RECs in the affairs of the Committee.  It could also enhance the significant role of the AU 
Commission in providing support to its member states in their participation in the affairs of the WTO. 
5. The AU Commission, through the Participation of African Nations in the International 
Standard-Setting Organizations (PANSPSO) Project , is already supporting the RECs to acquire 
observer status, not only in the WTO, but also in the Codex, the IPPC and the OIE.  It would, 
therefore, be appropriate for the AU Commissi on to effectively participate in these fora. 
  G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.14/Rev.1 
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  3. Contribution to the Work of the SPS Committee 
(a) Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme 
6. With regard to agriculture, the AU has deve loped the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture 
Development Programme (CAADP) in which SPS issues fall under Pillar 2.  Pillar 2 aims to increase market access through improved rural infrastru cture and other trade-related interventions
. 
(http://www.caadp.net).  AU's contribution to the wo rk of the WTO SPS Committee relates mainly to 
issues falling under area A of Pillar 2 of th e CAADP:  raising competitiveness and seizing 
opportunities in domestic, regional, and internati onal markets.  This emphasizes the following: 
(i) Regional markets and potential for cross-border trade 
7. Several promising efforts to facilitate domestic  and regional trade in agricultural commodities 
are under way at the regional and country levels.  To  build on these strengths and boost domestic and 
cross-border trade, the CAADP agenda will includ e:  (i) the modernization and harmonization of 
standards, norms, and grades across national markets;   and (ii) the promotion of modern trading 
systems, including the development of regional and national commodity exchanges. 
(ii) Agricultural trade facilitation. 
8. The objective is to create an institutional, re gulatory, and policy framework that will boost 
regional trade and cross border investment.  Indica tive activities include building the capacities of the 
RECs to develop and operate agricultural and trade policy surveillance systems to monitor and 
remove barriers to cross-border commodity movement, to collect and disseminate information on regional trade flows, and to study trends in regi onal commodity markets.  Other indicative activities 
include creating trading platforms to better link international supply and demand and reducing the 
cost of transactions in regional staples markets by building on East African efforts to develop a 
regional commodity exchange and repli cating these efforts throughout Africa. 
(iii) International trade advoca cy and negotiations skills.  
9. The objective is to build international trade a dvocacy and negotiation skills to better articulate 
African interests in bilateral and multilateral trad e negotiations in order to remove foreign policy 
distortions that limit market access and affect the competitiveness of African exports.  Indicative 
activities include establishing full-time regional and national negotiating teams with mechanisms for 
effective coordination of positions and represen tations and providing sh ort-term training in 
international trade policies and negotiation processes to  equip these teams with the skills to effectively 
formulate and represent regional and country positions. 
(b) Role of AU Commission and its specialized technical offices 
10. The role of the AU Commission in the SPS arena focuses mainly on policy aspects and aims 
at harmonizing SPS regulatory frameworks on the continent and ensuring compliance with international standards.  The AU Commission has no direct regulatory role in the SPS arena. 
11. The African Union Inter-African  Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the Inter-
African Phytosanitary Council (AU-IAPSC) are tw o AU Commission specialized technical offices 
that are active in the SPS arena.  AU-IBAR is r esponsible for animal health and food safety while 
AU-IAPSC is responsible for plant health.  Since 2010, these two technical offices have focused their 
activities in the sector on support to member states to improve their participation in the standard 
setting processes in the three sister organizations (Codex, IPPC and OIE), and in the WTO SPS Committee.  The progress made in terms of participa tion of African nations in the activities of these G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.14/Rev.1 
Page 4  
 
  four organizations has been widely  acknowledged and can be considered  as a valuable contribution of 
the AU Commission to the implementation of th e SPS agreement and the activities of the SPS 
Committee. 
12. The AU Commission, through its two technical o ffices, has also encouraged African RECs 
and AU member states that are not members of WTO or the three sister organisations, to seek 
observer status or full membership in the Three Sisters and the WTO SPS Committee.  This is fully 
supportive of the roles of WTO SPS Committee and the Three Sisters. 
(i) Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (IBAR) 
13. The functions of the AU Inter-African Bur eau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) are 
summarized as follows: 
(a) Improve public and animal health through the control and possible eradication of 
transboundary animal diseases and zoonoses; 
(b) Improve the management of animal resources and the natural resource bases on 
which they depend; 
(c) Explore investment options and enhance competitiveness of African animal products; 
(d) Contribute to the development of relevant  standards and regul ations and enhance 
compliance by member states; 
(e) Strengthen institutional capac ity and support policy devel opment and harmonization; 
(f) Disseminate information and knowledge on animal resources to member states, RECs 
and other relevant institutions; and 
(g) Provide essential support to member states with special needs or in emergency 
situations. 
14. AU-IBAR coordinates capacity development to  set and comply with essential production and 
trade standards relevant for animals and animal products, and to strengthen the capacities of public 
and private institutions to effectively perform thei r core roles, in order to transform the animal 
resources sector for greater impact on poverty allevia tion.  These efforts will be intensified through 
the provision of timely and reliable up-to-date data , information and knowledge on animal resources 
to support planning and decision-making. 
15. AU-IBAR has organized its projects under its st rategic plan 2010 - 2014 into six strategic 
programmes: 
 Programme 1:  Reducing the impact of transboundary animal diseases and zoonoses on 
livelihoods and public health in Africa; 
 Programme 2:  Enhancing Africa’s capacity to conserve and sustainably use its animal 
resources and their natural resource base; 
 Programme 3:  Improving investment opportun ities and competitiveness of animal resources 
in Africa; 
 Programme 4:  Promoting development of, a nd compliance with, standards and regulations; 
 Programme 5:  Improving knowledge management in animal resources to facilitate informed 
and timely decision-making; 
 Programme 6:  Facilitating development of po licies and institutional capacities for improved 
utilization of animal resources in Africa.  G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.14/Rev.1 
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  16. AU-IBAR recognizes the reality for partnership bu ilding and will adapt the most efficient and 
effective arrangements to get things done.  Opera tionally, these projects will be implemented in close 
collaboration with the RECs and member states.  Technically, key partners like FAO, OIE and WHO 
will be engaged as and when required w ithin the framework of One Health. 
(ii) Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (IAPSC) 
17. The AU Inter-African Phytosanitary Council ( AU-IAPSC) is a project purposely built to 
ensure effective control systems against harmful organisms on plants and plant products based on 
standard procedures and quality management syst ems, through the whole phytosanitary sector of 
African countries, so as to enhance crop production and trade.  It aims at strengthening the procedures 
and standardizes the work at the phytosanitary ad ministration of African countries, and its work 
includes: 
(a) enhancing phytosanitary capacity evaluation; 
(b) promoting pest surveillance; 
(c) risk analysis; 
(d) laboratories for diagnostics and phytosanitary inspection at borders entry points that 
apply to general phytosanitary actions by bringing them to comply with SPS issues 
and International Standards for Ph ytosanitary Measure (ISPM);  and 
(e) undertaking training, in order to achieve in National Plant Protection Organization 
(NPPO) more effective control system in relation to pests and diseases. 
(c) Relationship between AU Commission and RECs 
18. With regard to the RECs, the strategic plan of  the AU lays out clearly their relationship in 
Strategic Objective 18 – Promote effective coopera tion and collaboration with member states and 
RECs.  The RECs are considered as the building bl ocks of the AU and the modalities of collaboration 
between the AU Commission and RECs based on the prin ciple of subsidiarity are articulated in the 
Protocol on Relations between the African  Union and the Regional Economic Communities 
(http://www.iag-agi.org/bdf/do cs/au-recs-protocol.pdf).  
19. The role of the AU Commission with regard to RECs mainly consists in coordinating RECs 
and promoting intra-regional best practices.  In  the SPS area, the AU Commission provides support to 
RECs, directly and through its specialized tec hnical offices, to strengthen their technical and 
institutional capacities, and to ensure harmoni zation of SPS measures and policies across the 
continent. 
4. Reciprocity  
20. The WTO Secretariat has not requested observe r status in the African Union.  The WTO 
Secretariat is, however, an observer in the PAN-SPSO Steering Committee under AU-IBAR. 
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